Disclaimer- Not mine!


The bandits hauled him over the bright, burning flames, knotted his body down and forced his face into the hazy, odd smelling smoke. The reason, as far as Merlin could tell, was because that the bandits wanted him weak, but how could holding him over a fire accomplish that?

True, they were burning rather odd herbs that Gaius had said to never touch with a ten foot pole, but he definitely wasn't in denial at all.

Once he was secured, the bandits turned and left.

Over time, Merlin noticed his lungs getting tighter and tighter, his head feeling like it could just float away, his limbs as if they were slow and heavy as iron.

Sometime later, he distantly hears footsteps, and gets hauled roughly away from the fire.

Everything is tinted purple, and hazy enough that he has no idea what's happening. When hands haul him upright and odd, familiar sounds are made,

["Merlin, are you alright? Merlin? Merlin!"]

he hums, and lets his head flop back, completely relaxed. He feels hands wrap around his face like snakes, and struggles when fingers roughly pry apart his eyelids.

["They've drugged him, Sire—"

"Probably with those plants their burning—"

"He'll be fine, we pulled him out just in time—"]

There are distant curses, discussions, and he wants to join in, to find out what's happening, but everything was just so far away….


Merlin's eyes snap open, and the familiar cackle of flames cause him to shoot back, trying to escape, to get away-

Familiar hands drop onto his shoulders, and the knights are suddenly crowding his vision. They explain that he had been caught two days ago, and apparently starved, regularly beaten and drugged, if the state he was found in was any indicator.

["If we hadn't found you any earlier, mate, you would've died from overdose!"]

And when he starts going through withdrawal, when he shakes and vomits and hurts, they are there, like always.


I'm not sure about this one, but that's probaly because it was written at three in the morning. On two random and completely unrelated notes, I now have a FictionPress account, so my orginal stories can be found there under Titan50. As always, please review!

Thanks to MagicGirl41 for reveiwing!